World poverty must be cut, Blair told

A coalition of British charities, campaign groups, trade unions and celebrities will today demand that Tony Blair makes dramatic changes in government policy to significantly reduce world poverty.

The group will deliver a report called Make Poverty History to the prime minister which calls for changes to trade agreements, the cancellation of developing countries' debts and big increases in aid.

It marks the start of a huge anti-poverty campaign planned for 2005 designed to mobilise popular support for the cause.

The public will be encouraged to wear white armbands to show their support and a demonstration is planned for Edinburgh in July to force the subject high on to the agenda at the G8 meeting of world leaders.

Today's report points out that the government has an exceptional opportunity in 2005 to make a real impact in the battle against poverty because the UK is hosting the G8 gathering and will also be president of the European Union. Steve Tibbett of ActionAid said: "We've had the rhetoric from the government and now we want real action while the UK is in the driving seat this year."

Adrian Lovett from Oxfam said: "We are issuing this challenge to Tony Blair as we believe that he must do more to end global poverty. It is time for the UK government to change key policies and put pressure on other world leaders to do the same."

Unfair trade rules mean that poor countries cannot compete against wealthier nations in the global marketplace, the report says. The EU supports its agricultural industry with significant subsidies - around half the EU's annual budget is spent on the Common Agricultural Policy.

Nearly €3bn (£2bn) is spent on direct export subsidies, allowing the EU to dispose of its surpluses in developing countries. The UK must use its presidency of the EU to set a deadline as early as possible for the end of direct export subsidies, the report says.

Despite promises from rich countries, little more than 10% of the total debt owed by the world's poorest countries has been cancelled. Each year Africa faces demands for more than $10bn (£5.2bn). The report calls for "the unpayable debts of the world's poorest countries to be cancelled in full, by fair and transparent means". The report also calls on donor nations to deliver at least $50bn (£26bn) more aid each year and set a binding timetable for spending 0.7% of GD. "Aid must also be made to work more effectively for poor people," the report says.

If these measures are not taken then the world risks missing its millennium development goals - to halve world poverty by 2015. "Despite the devastating impact of the Aids epidemic, aid to the 28 countries with the highest rates of HIV has declined by a third from 1995 to $8.5bn in 2000," the report says.

"Unfair trade rules, the lack of good quality aid and crippling debts are costing lives," Mr Tibbett said. "We know what the problems are but until now there has not been the political will to do something about them. We want 2005 to be remembered as the year that changed the world."